Silkroad Online
Silkroad Online Silkroad Online is a MMORPG that is free to play online. The game is set in the 7th Century during the time Europe and Asia traded goods with one another. Silk was traded because it was so lucrative at the time but other goods were traded between the two regions as well. Its great to see that Silkroad Online is based on a time period like this which shows the advancements of human civilization. Unlike most games where they are based on time periods when humans are at their worst such as the Middle Ages and World War II etc.
As with every other MMORPG games before it, you are required to create your own character first before you can get to do anything else. You can be from Europe or Asia but you do not choose a specific class to be like in many other games. Instead, you just choose the type of weapons and armour you wish to use.
The create options are varied and humorous to say the least. Unlike in the FPS game Operation 7, the customization options in Silkroad Online are varied. You can choose to be both a male and female main character and they can be from many different races. There are humans, elves and even a werewolf! Not to mention you can even choose a guy with glasses and make him fat. I applaud this type of variety as most games these days you only get to be generic looking male characters.
After you have done that, you are ready to explore the world of Silkroad Online. Graphically, the game is very impressive and showcases a very large landscape. You start off in the city and even thats large on itself. Once you start off your quest, you can venture outside of town and then you can truly appreciate the huge environment that has been animated in this game. It is truly breathtaking how large this game really is. Although some people may think the visuals may look a little outdated by todays standards. Still, the visuals hold up well and considering this game was originally released in 2005 but then rereleased in 2009 to international gamers.
Be warned though, the tutorial starts when you see the quest giver who has an icon above his head. If you miss this person, its going to be a hard task for you to understand what you are doing and where you are going. This thing happened to me that I had to restart the game and look at a Youtube video to know where he was!
As always, most quests involve you venturing out of town to kill a bunch of monsters. In order to level up in this game, you pretty much have to do this type of thing over and over again. This is to be expected considering most MMORPG games play like this anyway. The only one that didnt use this type of system that I played was the excellent and innovative Wizards 101.
Thankfully, combat in this game isnt too bad and its fast paced compared to other MMORPG games. Although combat is the usual point and click system that is seen in numerous times from games of the same genre. I actually preferred the more dynamic system that is used in more recent MMORPG games such as DC Universe Online. Still, MMORPG veterans will feel right at home with this type of combat system.
There is PvP combat in Silkroad Online which is a lot more fun to do than fighting all the monsters all the time during the quests. Theres even a berserk bar in this game where you can become a powerful demonlike character for a brief period of time. This increases your attributes and makes you attacks much more devastating against your opponents.
Silkroad Online does not break bring any new things to the MMORPG genre although it keeps a lot of things which makes the genre very popular in the first place. The graphics are impressive despite the games age and its great to see that Silkroad Online is set in a time period not ruined by human greed and war as seen in most other games.
